Sweet Child of Mine: Stay Strong

In the short time you’ve been around, you have been through so much! With the advances of modern medicine, we have been blessed to bring children into this earth. You are truly a miracle that we have prayed for over and over again. To help you always remember how strong and fierce you are, we want to tell you how you came to be.

IVF Step 1:

To start the process of our family growing, we first had to meet with a Fertility Specialist. Due to the unexpected surgeries (Ovarian Torsion & Ectopic Pregnancy) in the past, we were blessed to be referred to the same specialist by both surgians.

The first thing we had to do with the Fertility Specialist was go through some testing. From that, we learned that everything for both of us (Mom & Dad) looked just fine, other than my (Mom) lack of the fallopian tube on my right side and the ovary on my left side. So, we knew that no matter what, we’d have to go through IVF to have children.

Egg Retrieval Prep

The Egg Retrieval begins by starting to take several injections and many vitamins. It’s not normal for everyone to take as many vitamins as I did. My specialist had done research of how to get the best eggs, and all these vitamins he had me take everyday helped with just that. Quite regularly I would go in for appointments where they would check my blood levels and measure the follicles (soon to be eggs). In order to retrieve eggs, they must reach a certain maturity, of over 2 mm.

Trigger Shot

The day would come when all the blood levels looked great and the eggs had matured. At that point, I was given instructions of when to take my HCG trigger shot, which is to be given 36 hours prior to the Egg Retrieval.

Egg Retrieval Day

Many eggs had reached their maturity and it was time to get them out. By now, my ovary was about the size of a softball with the number of eggs at their matured size.

I would go into the operating room and be put under anesthesia. While under anesthesia, the specialist would go in and retrieve as many eggs as possible. From this specific retrieval, 26 eggs were retrieved. After the eggs have been retrieved, they are sent off the lab for ICSI. ICSI is a process in which the sperm is injected directly into the eggs, giving them a greater chance of fertilizing and maturing. In the end, there were 5 total eggs/blastocysts that had fully matured.

Pre-Genetic Screening

The 5 total eggs that matured properly, will now be frozen until the time of the Frozen Embryo Transfer. Before the freezing takes place, several cells from each embryo would be biopsied and sent off for pre-genetic screening.

It is not required to go through Pre-Genetic Screening, but with my case of being able to implant only one embryo at a time, it was strongly suggested. We agreed and cells from each of these 5 embryos were sent off. About a week later, we received the results of the 5 embryos. Of the 5, there were 3 great quality embryos. The two that were not great had results of: a missing chromosome – leading to scientists knowing that it would not implant; as well as another with an extra chromosome – but we later find out that this might be ok to transfer, we’ll be doing more research.

Frozen Embryo Transfer

It has been about two months now since the Egg Retrieval, and we have asked the specialist to transfer the best embryo. At this point, Scott (Dad) has been giving my injections for several weeks now to prepare my body for the transfer/implantation.

We didn’t know if you were a boy or a girl, but once the best embryo had been chosen, we wanted to know. It was in the room just prior to the transfer that we found out you were a girl! Oh, we were so excited to find out.

The transfer continued, and all went well. I took it easy the next few days and fervently prayed with Dad that all would go well. Now, we would wait 9 days to receive the news of how everything went.

You’re Coming!

The day finally came for me to get the blood-work and find out if everything worked! Several hours after the blood-work, I received the phone call finding out that you were really coming! I was pregnant! I cried and laughed and couldn’t help but be overjoyed with this news.

Little but Fierce

So my dear, do you see all that you have gone through? It has been quite a journey so far for you and it’s only the beginning. We know that you truly are a miracle and we are beyond thrilled to have you join our family.

Now, stay strong and keep growing. We are taking the best care of you and doing all we can to keep my body strong and healthy, so you can stay in my womb as long as possible.

We can’t wait to meet you, but we know that you will certainly be worth the wait – so don’t rush!